U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,289 describes a tooling module intended for use in a stamping and forming machine as the type described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,497,196 and 4,819,476. The stamping and forming module describe in U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,289 is capable of carrying out a variety of forming operations on blanks which are integral with a continuous strip that is fed through the machine in which the modules are mounted. The specific embodiment described in the above identified patent is capable of forming 180 degree bends in the opposite ends of a blank at a single forming station rather than in several stations as is common practice.
The present invention is directed to the achievement of an alternative module which is capable of carrying out operations as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,289 and is capable of carrying out other operations on flat blanks or partially formed blanks. Specifically, the present invention is directed to the achievement of a relatively simplified module containing fewer parts of which is capable of a wide variety of forming operations.